MLB Official Info

MLB Executives

Rob Manfred

Commissioner of Major League Baseball

Robert D. Manfred, Jr. was elected as the 10th Commissioner in the history of Major League Baseball on August 14, 2014 by a unanimous vote of the 30 Major League Clubs. He officially became the sport's leader on January 25, 2015.

Manfred had served as Chief Operating Officer of Major League Baseball since September 30, 2013. In this role, Manfred managed the Commissioner's Office in New York on behalf of Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. He worked closely with Club ownership and management executives and has long addressed a variety of the industry's economic, governance and policy issues. As COO, Manfred oversaw labor relations, baseball operations, baseball development, finance, administration and other key areas.

Before becoming COO, Manfred served as MLB's Executive Vice President for Economics & League Affairs, reporting directly to Commissioner Selig and responsible for major economic matters such as revenue sharing and the debt-service rule, as well as franchise-specific matters involving the 30 Major League Clubs. From 1998-2012, he was Executive Vice President for Labor Relations & Human Resources. In both capacities, Manfred directed all issues related to collective bargaining with the Major League Baseball Players Association, including the successful renewals of the Basic Agreement in 2002, 2006 and 2011. Those agreements helped realize Commissioner Selig's vision of competitive balance and club financial stability through reforms such as increased revenue sharing, more aggressive payroll taxes, reform of the amateur talent acquisition process and strict debt regulation.

The 2002 labor pact was the first in more than 30 years to be settled between the two parties without incurring a work stoppage. MLB is currently in the midst of a period of at least 21 consecutive years of labor peace, a stretch that is unprecedented in the sport's history. Manfred also represented MLB on all upgrades to the game's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, which stands as the toughest and most comprehensive in American professional sports.

Manfred is a 1980 graduate of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. In 1983, he received his law degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was an articles editor of the Harvard Law Review. Following law school, Manfred served as a clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro in the District of Massachusetts.

Following his clerkship, Manfred joined the Labor and Employment Law Section of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP, resident in the Washington, D.C., office. He became a partner in the firm in 1992.

Active in professional organizations, Manfred is a member of the Labor Section of the American Bar Association, the Massachusetts and District of Columbia Bar Associations and the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Sports Lawyers Association and the Partnership for Clean Competition. Manfred was named Labor Counsel of the Year in 2008 by the Association of Media and Entertainment Counsel and was awarded an honorary degree by LeMoyne College in 2010.